Patients are Transforming from Passive Recipients of Healthcare Services to Active Participants

The consumerization of healthcare – a fundamental shift in patients’ preferences, behaviors, and demands around healthcare services – is threatening hospitals’ bottom lines. For the first time, patients are transforming from passive recipients of healthcare services to active participants in their own health. They’re flocking to online review sites to choose which doctor to see, skipping hospital visits in favor of a health clinic in their local CVS, and aren’t afraid to ditch providers that don’t offer them an engaging experience. The superior customer service expectations of millennials, declines in hospital profitability, and threats from start-up providers and retail pharmacies intensify the need for providers to revamp the patient experience.

Providers’ current engagement capabilities are weak, and deficiencies around scheduling, appointment wait times, and billing are dragging on patient satisfaction, driving patients elsewhere and draining provider revenue. In this report, Business Insider Intelligence explores the trends that are driving providers to revamp their care services. We then outline how patients’ expectations for transparency, convenience, and access are transforming the way they interact with providers across each stage of care. Finally, we detail strategies health systems and hospitals can implement to create a consumer-centric patient experience that fosters satisfaction, loyalty, and patient volume.  The companies mentioned in this report are: 98point6, BayCare, Cleveland Clinic, CVS, Integris, Kaiser Permanente, Luma Health, New York-Presbyterian, One Medical, Publix, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Yelp, and Zocdoc. – Business Insider